The ubiquity of computing devices and our growing reliance on network data has created enormous demands for network managers. In particular, network managers must constantly monitor their networks to detect and troubleshoot potential problems. Failure to detect and troubleshoot a network problem in a timely fashion can result in connection errors and unacceptable downtime. Yet as networks grow in size and complexity, it becomes increasingly difficult to adequately track and monitor network usage and statistics in order to promptly react to network problems as they emerge. In many cases, the sheer volume of data and statistics generated in a network can be almost impossible to sort through and analyze.
To this end, various tools have been created to provide various representations of network data and statistics to network managers, which network managers can use to monitor and troubleshoot a network. Typically, current solutions present network data and statistics in table or topology format. For example, network statistics are often collected and presented in a table which the network manager can sort through to detect abnormalities. In other cases, the topology of the network is represented in a graphical tool with copious amounts of statistics displayed within the depicted network. Unfortunately, current solutions are cumbersome and inefficient precisely because they represent excessively large volumes of data in ways that are hard to analyze and digest. Consequently, such tools can quickly overwhelm network managers. As a result, network managers often overlook useful and important details which are generally buried within large amounts of data. Not surprisingly, without effective network visualization and monitoring tools, network managers are limited in their ability to maximize network performance and reliability.